The Lady Who Waited
by Illucida
Summary: In exchange for rejoining their class in school, Sora and Riku must do a summer project over the legend surrounding Destiny Peak, the island's volcano. Warning: Slight DDD reference; not too spoilerish though.


"Sora! Riku!" Kairi called out in greeting as she walked up to her best friends. The trio had agreed to meet up by the beach at nine this morning.

"Hey, Kairi!" Sora greeted enthusiastically.

Riku smiled and greeted Kairi as well.

"So, what did the superintendent say about you guys returning to school?" Kairi asked.

"He agreed to let us back in our class if we tested into them and completed a summer project," Riku replied.

"Yeah, about that," Sora laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head, "do you think you can tutor me before the exams, Kairi?"

Kairi smiled, "Of course! What are you two going to do your project over?"

"We're doing it over the legend of 'The Lady Who Waited!' You know, the one at Destiny Peak?" Sora informed.

"I think I do…is it the one about the star-crossed lovers who were going to run away the day the volcano erupted?" Kairi asked, uncertain.

"Yes," Riku responded, "and she tragically died, before her lover could get to her."

"That's so sad! How are you going to start your project?"

Sora answered this time, "At the scene of the crime! Well, legend. Forces of nature don't intentionally kill people."

"Do you want to come with us?" Riku asked Kairi.

"No, I'll let you two go. Meet up with me for lunch at my place at noon?"

"Sure," Riku responded at the same time Sora chimed, "It's a date!"

-0-

"When did climbing up the volcano get so quick?" Sora asked, as they approached the area where the legend was told to have taken place.

"Probably around the time we started walking all around the universe," Riku quipped.

Sora laughed, and then proceeded to look around. "Um, just what exactly are we supposed to find?"

"Probably nothing; it is just a legend after all. Going to the site is supposed to quote, 'inspire our research.'"

"That's no fun!" Sora whined, "At least when Roxas did his summer project he actually found things."

Riku's eyes flicked to study Sora's face when he said that. He knew that Sora received Roxas's memories in the dream world, but it didn't come up in conversation very much. Sora didn't seem to be lamenting over it, so Riku squashed the urge to talk about it.

"Hey, what's that?" Riku said, drawing attention to a see-through image of a woman.

Sora's eyes widened, "It's her!"

Sora ran towards the woman, and Riku followed. Suddenly, the Earth began to rumble, and a mighty red spirit rose up from the volcano. The woman shrieked in terror as fire from the red spirit began to descend on her.

Summoning the Kingdom Key, Sora quickly cast "Blizzara!"

The fireballs aiming for the woman vanished. Riku ran for the woman and, although he wasn't sure if he'd be able to touch her, attempted to lift her and carry her to a safer location. To his relief, he attempt worked. Riku quickly deposited her farther down the mountain, away from danger, before running to join Sora in his battle against the spirit.

Way to the Dawn appeared in Riku's hand. The spirit radiated heat. Sora's clothing had scorch marks on it.

"Don't use physical attacks until it's frozen!" Sora advised as he cast blizzaga on the spirit.

The spirit froze solid, and Sora and Riku took the opportunity to attack the spirit all out. When the blizzard spell wore off, it appeared that the damage had been enough. The red spirit had burnt out, only the smell of smoke as a reminder that it had ever been there.

"Need a potion?" Riku asked Sora. Sora, after all, had been battling the spirit for longer.

"Nah. Though I do need help coming up with a way to explain the scorch marks on my clothes to Mom."

Riku laughed gently. The female spirit, The Lady Who Waited, approached them. Next to her was the spirit of a man, presumably the lover she had waited for.

"Thank you so much. We've repeated this day for centuries, always reliving the terrible eruption. Today we can finally move on," the woman had tears in her eyes as she held her lover's hand.

"It was our pleasure," Sora said, a soft smile on his face.

"We were glad to help," Riku added.

The couple nodded, and disappeared in a swirl of lights.

"Who would have guessed the legend was true?" Sora asked with his hands cupped behind his head and eyes focused on the sky as Riku and him started to climb back down the volcano.

Riku shrugged, "At least they're together now."

"Yeah…" Sora's blue eyes locked on Riku's green eyes, "waiting to be reunited with you and Kairi was hard—and that was for about two years. I don't think I could have stood it, to wait as long as they did."

Riku's mouth curved with a wry smile, "You would have done it though. So would Kairi and I."

Sora's head bobbed, eyes filled with emotion and his lips twisted in a smile, "Yeah."

Riku cleared his throat, changing the subject. "What do we write in our report? I don't think the teacher will believe our story."

"Huh? Uh…maybe we would get points for creativity?"

Riku laughed, "We'll think of something."

Sora and Riku found themselves in front of Kairi's house. They entered without knocking, and felt at peace. All was well.

* * *

Standard Disclaimer Applies

AN: This is just a little something I wrote for my own amusement. I hope I brought some other people joy with this too. Have a comment? Be sure to leave it in a review!


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